Many cultures and religions use prayer strands for counting and tracking prayers. The most well known of these devices is the strand of rosary beads used during the recitation of the rosary in the Catholic religion. However, many other religions, including the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Eastern Orthodox religions, use similar devices which have nodes, such as beads or knots, positioned on a cord to count or otherwise track a series of prayers as the prayers are recited.
In its simplest form, a user moves his or her fingers from node to node along the prayer strand as each repetition of the prayer is completed. In its more complex form, beads of different attributes, such as size, shape, or the like, prompt the user to recite different prayers in sequence.
Often, as a user recites the prayers, he or she may be interrupted. When such an interruption takes place, the user either risks losing his or her place along the prayer strand or must pinch the prayer strand between the user's fingers to try to maintain the user's position.
However, the drawback of this system is that the user may have difficulty recalling the direction in which the user was traversing the prayer strand when interrupted. Moreover, if the user is physically disabled or visually impaired, it may be difficult to maintain the user's place along the prayer strand because the user may be unable to firmly hold the prayer strand at the desired location for a long period of time.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a device which marks a user's position on a prayer strand for later reference, without the user having to hold the marker in place.